An RT-award-winning literary agent with 20 years experience in numerous genres opens up about her experience and adventures in publishing and the world beyond it.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

SUMMER READING

I am on a real vacation by the seashore with my family, but one of the things I always look forward to is reading for pleasure. I take no work with me - the only reason I'm writing this now is because it is raining and I'm writing about reading.

Because I have to read so many manuscripts for work - about 200 a year - I have to be very selective about the books I read for pleasure. I usually only get through 12 a year. Many of them are dictated by the kind of books I represent. I always want to read the newest King and Straub, the hot young horror writer of the moment, and the hot hip chick lit book of the summer. I'll usually also read the big narrative nonfiction book of the year too.

Right now I'm finishing up BLACK HOUSE, which I have started three times (I just had to put it aside for work, and then never got back to it). I really want to see show they handle the Territories in this one, after reading LISEY'S STORY and asking you about other books that reference the author's made-up world as a real place.

After that, I'll be reading Meg Wolitzer's THE POSITION, a piece of commerical literary fiction that hit the world about two summer's ago. If I get through that before Labor Day, I'm hoping to read the finished copy of my client Fred Rosen's (Fredrosen.com) true crime classic, THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD: Conversations with Survivors of the 20th Century's Greatest Serial killers and try to squeeze in SEE JANE WRITE.

As you know, I just finished LISEY'S STORY. Before that I read YOU SUCK by Christopher Moore, and THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, which is another book I kept on picking up and putting down and finally got through. It's a must read for anyone writing narrative nonfiction.

Just so you know that I'm not putting aside my work, I have 14 novels in line for summer work reading. I got through 3 before I left for vacation.

4 comments:

Lori, I just finished reading LISEY'S STORY, too, and thoroughly enjoyed it. King is a genius. He's exceptional at taking the horrors of every day life that anyone can (and usually does) suffer, and combining it with a surreal parallel. I especially liked his unusual use of tense as he followed 3 different timelines throughout the story. Wasn't it unique how he had the middle timeline in present tense? Wow. Blew me away.

I am reading THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy. I am also reading THE LIVING BLOOD by Tananarive Due, and DARK MELODY by Cristine Feehan. I usually don't read that many books at once, but when I went to the hairdresser, I left the main one I was reading at home and grabbed another from my car. I just bought THE ROAD, and will probably finish it first. I have a huge plastic bin, filled with books from my TBR pile. I also have some on my book shelveS, Lori. LOL...Oh yeah, I'm still editing my urban fantasy novel and my screenplay...and work a very stressful LOW-PAYING state job. Oh, the fun! :*)There never seems to be enough time to read and write. I see why alot of famous authors never worked full time jobs.